1. Field of Invention:
This invention relates generally to aroma generators functioning to exude a fragrance into a room, and more particularly to a hand-actuated fragrance emitting unit which when manually actuated expels into the atmosphere a fragrance mist.
2. Status of Prior Art:
As used herein, the term "aroma" or "fragrance" is not limited to pleasant or savory smells but encompasses scents that function as insecticides, air fresheners, deodorants or any other odor that acts to condition, modify or otherwise charge the atmosphere.
The aroma of perfumes and perfume-based products such as colognes and toilet waters was originally derived from the essential oil of plants. However, since the early 19th century, chemists have succeeded in analyzing many essential oils and in creating thousands of synthetics, some simulating natural products and others yielding altogether new scents. Perfumes today are largely blends of natural and synthetic scents and of fixatives which equalize vaporization and enhance pungency. In most liquid scents, the ingredients are combined with a highly volatile alcohol carrier.
There are many situations in which the environment of a living room, a kitchen, an office or other enclosure occupied by people is rendered unpleasant by tobacco smoke, food smells or other pungent odors. It is often not practical, as in the winter months, to open a window or operate an air conditioner to clear the air. The common practice, therefore, is to mask or modify the prevailing atmosphere by some sort of air freshener device or aroma generator.
In some situations, the atmosphere of a room may be clear and free of odors, yet it may be desirable to introduce a fragrance in order to create a more romantic ambience or to induce other effects, for personal moods are highly influenced by odors. Thus, the effect of a musk-like odor is very different from that of sea air and such differences can be exploited when manipulating the environment.
It is known to provide an air freshener or fragrance generator in the form of a bottle containing a volatile liquid in which a wick is immersed, the upper end of the wick extending above the bottle and being exposed to the air. Such devices not only are subject to spillage or leakage, but, in order to adjust the rate of volatilization, means must be provided to vary the extent of wick exposure.
The Meek U.S. Pat. No. 2,763,395, discloses an air freshener in which a vented cylindrical container is filled with particles of absorbent material impregnated with a volatile air-freshener liquid. The vented container is telescoped within a cylindrical housing and is provided with detents making it possible to more or less raise the vented container relative to its housing and thereby more or less expose the impregnated particles to the atmosphere. In this way, one can adjust the rate of odor or air freshener dissemination. A vapor dispenser having telescoping elements to adjust the rate of dissemination is also shown in the Martens et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,220,281.
In the Munnecke U.S. Pat. No. 2,578,827, a deodorized unit is disclosed in which an absorbent filler held in a container is impregnated with a volatile liquid. In this unit the rate of emission is controlled by an adjustable shutter in which two sets of holes are more or less brought into registration with each other.
Also of background interest is my prior U.S. Pat. No. 4,612,223 in which fragrance-emitting pellets are housed in a box having openings therein to discharge the fragrance emitted from the pellets into the atmosphere.
The disadvantage of aroma generators in which the fragrance is stored in a porous member is that the fragrance is slow to volatilize. While it is possible to provide a motor driven propeller to force air through the porous member and thereby increase the emission of fragrance, such devices require power; hence, it is necessary to provide batteries or a power outlet plug-in arrangement, thereby adding substantially to the cost of the generator. It is also possible to increase evaporation of a fragrance compound beyond its ambient capacity by heaters, but this, too, complicates the unit.